Spelling Jump Game: Word Jumper
Getting your game ready…
- Ages
- 5–9
- School years
- Kindergarten–Standard 3
- Skills
- Hearing the sounds in a word in order (segmenting) and matching each sound to its letters, Short vowel CVC words such as cat, bed, pin, dog and sun, Consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th, ck and ng
- Time
- 5 minutes a level
- Cost
- Free, no sign-up
- Updated
For grown-upsWord Jumper is a free spelling game that plays like a real platform game. A picture shows the word and the word is read aloud. Wooden blocks float over the meadow, each with a letter or a sound such as sh or ai, and children jump the frog onto the blocks in the right order to spell the word.
How to play Word Jumper
- Choose a set of words (CVC words, sh ch th, long vowels, sight words or tricky words) and press Play.
- Look at the picture and listen to the word. Press the speaker button to hear it again. Sight words and tricky words also show a sentence with a gap.
- Move the frog with the arrow keys or the ◀ ▶ buttons and jump with Space or the Jump button. On a phone or tablet, just tap a block and the frog hops onto it.
- Jump onto the blocks in order: each right block fills the next sound box. A wrong letter wobbles away, and after two slips the right block glows.
- Spell the word to win a shower of coins and move on. Spell 6 words to finish the level.
What your child learns
- Hearing the sounds in a word in order (segmenting) and matching each sound to its letters
- Short vowel CVC words such as cat, bed, pin, dog and sun
- Consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th, ck and ng
- Long vowel sounds spelt with two or three letters: ai, ee, oa, igh and oo
- Sight words and tricky words, such as said, friend, school and because
- Hand–eye coordination and planning a route
About Word Jumper
Children learn to spell by hearing the separate sounds in a word and writing the letters for each one in order. Word Jumper turns that into a platform game. Each block carries one sound, so the word ship is built from three blocks, sh, i and p, just as children are taught in phonics lessons, and the sound boxes at the top fill up one sound at a time. The wrong blocks are sensible mistakes, such as ay instead of ai in rain, or f instead of th in bath, so every jump is a small spelling decision.
CVC words suit Kindergarten, and the digraph and long vowel words suit Standard 1, following the order many phonics programmes teach. Sight words and tricky words suit Standards 1–3: each one is shown in a sentence, such as “Dad said hello.”, and the blocks split the word so the tricky part stands out, like s-ai-d. Every word is common and spelt the same in British and American English, with a clear picture. There is no timer and no way to lose: a wrong letter just wobbles away, and after two slips the right block glows. Children who find the jumping tricky can tap a block, or press its number, and the frog hops there by itself.
| School year | Suggested level |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten | CVC words such as cat, sun and bed |
| Standard 1 | Consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th, ck, ng) and long vowels (ai, ee, oa, igh, oo) |
| Standard 2 | Sight words and tricky words such as said, friend and school |
| Standard 3 | Tricky words such as because, people and laugh |
Move up a level after getting three stars two or three times in a row.
Leaderboard
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Frequently asked questions
How do you play Word Jumper?
Look at the picture, listen to the word, then jump the frog onto the blocks in the right order to spell it. Use the arrow keys and Space, the on-screen buttons, or tap a block and the frog hops onto it.
What happens if my child jumps on the wrong letter?
The letter wobbles away and the frog bounces off. The block stays, so your child can carry on. After two slips the right block glows. Words spelled with no slips earn more coins.
What words are in the game?
Five sets: CVC words (cat, sun, bed), consonant digraphs (ship, chick, bath), long vowels (rain, tree, boat, night, moon), sight words (see, play, they) and tricky words (said, friend, school, because). All are spelt the same in British and American English.
Can young children play it on a tablet?
Yes. The big ◀ ▶ and Jump buttons work on touch screens, and tapping a block makes the frog hop there by itself, so even children who are new to games can spell every word.
Does the game read the words aloud?
Yes, when the sound is on. Each word is read aloud at the start, and sight words and tricky words are read in their sentence. Press the speaker button or H to hear the word again.
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